Taken from The Coral‘s forthcoming album Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show (September 8) the “Drifter’s Prayer” is narrated by Life On Mars and Dr Who actor, John Simm.
On working with John, James Skelly says,
Nick had this poem and we thought that we’d do something with, like a murder ballad. He also had this acoustic, country-style riff so we recorded it in the studio and it fitted with the words perfectly but it needed someone to do the narration. We just messaged John, he’d already been to a few gigs, and he said ‘yes’ straight away. Nailed it perfectly. He’s a pro. It’s great to be able to see someone like that working, someone who is just that good at doing their job.
Nick Power further adds,
We were talking about having a spoken word track on the album, but maybe bringing an actor in to voice it. I had the idea of this fairground worker looking back on his life, sort of like a eulogy to the old travelling carnival world and its customs. How those people were their own community, constantly on the move, drifting through England. And this person coming to terms with the modern world leaving him behind, in a way. John Simm came in and understood it right away.
Listen to “Drifter’s Prayer” below
